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located on highway 46 West of Old Town Bluffton and the old Piggly Wiggly, Telephone number 757-3357. You will not meet a nicer guy than Jeffery and he goes out of his way to help and make your stop a nice one. He does not try to rob the bank either. He is also a Local.

That way you are not in a rush, and you won't have to listen to the oil-change people try to rip you off, when all of a sudden they have found stuff on your car that needs work. If you don't want to try DIY, take it in.

What you need:
1. Some type of pan or tub not deeper than about the size of a 11-inch shoe, nice and wide, not too shallow to catch the old oil dripping out from under the oil pan. About 4 qts will come out.

3. Oil filter wrench, which is either a clasp ratchet (wrench) or cap (wrench).

4. Engine oil, mine takes 5w-30 (every car has a certain preference recommendation for the viscosity grade of the oil). The quarts should all have the same viscosity that you put in).

5. Oil filter. Get the right one for your car, there are hundreds of different oil filter sizes. Whereever they sell them, they usually have a book or computer, where you punch in your car info (Year, make, model, 4-cyl or 6-cyl or 8 cyl), and it gives you the oil filter number for your car.

6. An old large towel, and then an old hand towel.

7. Two paper funnels which are free at most of the gas stations.

8. Two old empty laundry detergent jugs.

Instructions:
1. Take all your pets and put them up so they can't even get near your car.

2. Drive the car so the oil will be hot. Pull into a level drive way or parking lot somewhere. Put the car in park, and get out of the car. Place large towel down under engine, halfway sticking out from the front bumber, so you can eventually ly on it. Position towel so you can ly on it and reach oil pan. Place wrench (mine takes 14 mm) and pan to catch the old oil close to the oil pan which sits on the bottome of the engine. Place wrench on the ground next to towel.

3. Turn car off. Remove oil cap (counter-clockwise) from top of engine and put in safe place (its usually on top of valve cover). This is where you will pour in fresh oil, below in step 12. Get out and ly down on towel on your back. Usually depending on your car, half your body will be under the car. Make sure you can reach the small towel while you are down there and the wrench to the oil pan bolt (plug).

4. Loosen oil pan plug (counter-clockwise) with round end of wrench. Be careful because this is where the hot oil comes out, and yes it can burn you. Loosen just enough so you can do the rest with your fingers. The bolt will be hot, use small towel between fingers and bolt. Do not let bolt fall into the pan sitting on ground when the hot oil comes out. Try to position pan on ground so no oil hits the ground. You want all of the old oil to go into the pan. When the plug comes out, its not all that unsual for a tiny amount of oil to hit the ground instead of the pan. The beginning is just the tricky part if you have never done it. Be careful, do not get burned by oil. The oil does not come out like a fire house, but it does come out somewhat fast.

5. Once you have the bolt out and the old oil is draining into pan on ground, get up from under there. Put bolt in safe place so you can find it.

6. Use the filter wrench to unloosen (counter-clockwise)and remove the oil filter which you access usually through the hood of the car. Use a rag (small towel) so when you remove it and turn it right side up, you will catch any old oil that might try to fall out if there is any. The filter is a cylinder shape about the size (the sizes vary for different cars) of a can of vegetables, with a hole on one end with threads.

7. Take small towel, and wipe around where the filter was just attached, because this is where you will put the new filter.

8. Take a quart of the NEW oil and open it. Place you finger over the top, and with other hand, tilt so you get some oil over you index finger tip. It doesn't take much. You need just enough to LIGHTLY grease the entire rubber gasket ring, ususally black in color, on one end of new filter (so you can get it off on the next oil change). Put cap back on new quart of oil, which you will eventually use.

9. Once it is greased you are ready to put new filter on car right where you took old one off. Use you hand to thread the filter on clockwise. Keep turning with your hand until you feel the first light tension of tightness (until it hits). That is important, because now you are going to turn the rest of the way with cap or ratchet wrench. They usually say on the box flap that the filter came in, how many turns to tighten. Usually either 3/4 or 1 turn. You simply look at filter on car, some writing on the side of the filter, that you can watch turn, so you know when 3/4 or 1 turn is up. Generally, you want to be with in 1/4 turn if you are wondering about it being off on tightness or looseness. Just follow these instructions.

10. Now the new filter is on. When all the old oil is done dripping out, which usually take a good 20 mts, slowly and carefully slide pan with old oil out from under the car. You can use one paper filter to carefully pour into laundry jugs.

11. Take oil pan plug, clean with towel. Get back down underneath car, and using fingers screw back in clockwise. You may have to wipe with towel where it goes in, because residual drops of oil will keep trying to come out. Using round side of wrench, tighten until it is snug. Good and tight feel. You don't have to arm wrestle it, but make sure it is tight.

12. Pour the proper AMOUNT! of oil into the top of engine where you removed the oil cap using the other paper funnel. FIND OUT THE PROPER AMOUNT! If you put funnel into opening it will usually stay. Start pouring, and then slightly raise funnel (about half-inch) so oil will go down faster if you desire.

13. After putting all the quarts of oil in, screw oil cap back in, usually clockwise. Finito!!! Write down present mileage on car. I change my oil every 5,000 miles, which is recommended for my make and model.

WARNING: ANY ENGINE FLUIDS IN YOUR CAR, EITHER TOO LITTLE OR TOO MUCH WILL DO DAMAGE.

If you have a precious driveway put down lots of newspaper.

Also, you might find a video online on how to do it. Maybe ehow, or one of those how to(s) on internet.

Thanks for the info, but I for one changed oil for 60 years on my vehicles. After I got older and accumulated some money, I decided to pay somebody else. Half the cost is oil and the other half is labor. For 10 bucks, somebody else that needs the work can do it, check the transmission and differential levels and the tires. Most new vehicles don't need grease, but some pickups do. Also be careful screwing in the pan plug. Easy to strip the threads.

What you didn't mention is the proper disposable of the used oil. Can't dump it in the May River. LOL Maybe you could mention a collection site in Bluffton.

I also have someone change my oil for me. I may miss the extra $10/change ($20/year) someday, but not at the moment.

Your comment about disposing of old oil brought back memories. When my Dad showed me how to change the 10W30 (or whatever it was) many decades ago, we'd take the pan with the old oil to a dirt road near our home in Illinois and just dump it on the shoulder. Boy, were we ever clueless. Neither of us would even think of doing that today, and not just because it's illegal.

Dad still changes his own oil, but now he takes it to the dump near Sun City, where we also take everything we can for recycling. How times change.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph (of evil) is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

If you change your own oil filter, be sure to run a bead of oil around the new O-ring before screwing on the new filter. The directions say to do that and I always have.

But a Click and Clack column show answered a question by a listener that had the old filter stuck and he couldn't get it off. He had a cheapie filter wrench and finally jammed a screwdriver in the filter can for leverage and finally got it off. The two comedian/mechanics said if a bead of oil is not spread on the O-ring, it will stick.

Click and Clack have a radio show at 10:00 AM Saturdays on PBS. Funny stuff and good hints.

When we were farming, we had lots of old oil from tractors and trucks. No collection sites then, so we spread oil on farm equipment, snake holes and ant beds.

If you pour it around out buildings it will keep the termites away because they sure don't like it for some reason. Did a trench along the base of the building and pour it in the trench and in a few days the dirt has absorbed the oil and you will never see a termite around it. It is a lot better than Orkin and less expensive too, LOL.

Goodyear and Tire Kingdom. JMHO, but we have had serious issues with both places.

We've had the best luck around here at the dealers. My DH takes his car to the GM dealer, I use Honda for my own car and I take my other car-the one my son uses-to Key Mazda. My other son uses the Volvo dealership.

The only other three places I would trust would be Morris's, Frankllin's in Hardeeville, and National Towing (I think that's what it's called) by Riverwalk.

I am sure there must be a lot of good places to get an oil change - I prefer All Pro - Ray Pringle is a prince of a man - capable, reliable, honest, good local citizen - our estimate to repair AC came in under quoted price

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